Auction Highlights
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Egyptian Wooden Stela for Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat with Ra-Horakhty
Sold for (Inc. bp): £15,600
Arch-topped and composed of two vertical boards, coated with gesso and skilfully painted on one side; the lunette decorated with a winged sun-disc and two pendant uraei; the central vignette depicting the deceased worshipping the falcon-headed god Ra-Horakhty with the Four Sons of Horus standing behind, each with their name written above; the lower register with six lines of hieroglyphic text providing an offering formula for the benefit of the deceased: Transliteration of the hieroglyphs: 1) ḥtp-dı-͗nsw rꜤ-ḥr-Ꜣḫtı͗nṯr Ꜥ nb pt sḥḏ [.....] wsır͗ ẖntt [ım͗ntt?] 2) nṯr Ꜥ nb Ꜣbḏw dı⸗͗f pr.t-ḫrw t ḥnḳt kꜢ Ꜣpd [....] ḫt nb(t) (n) fr(t) wꜢbt […] 3) ḫt nbt nḏm dı⸗͗f ḥtpw ḏfꜢw [...]f ḫꜢ m t dı⸗͗f ḫꜢ m 4) ḥnḳt dı⸗͗f ẖꜢ ır͗p [...] dı⸗͗f ḫꜢ m ı͗[...] dı⸗͗f ḫꜢ ı(͗Ꜣ)r(r)t dı⸗͗f 5) m snṯr ḥr ḫꜢwt [...] ḳrs nfr ḥr ım͗nt nfr 6) n [..] wsır͗ [......] pꜢ-dı-͗ım͗n(m) ıp͗ Ꜣ.t ms (n) ḫꜢ [....] Translation: 1) An offering that the king and Ra-Horakhty, Great God, Lord of Heaven, the illuminated [...] Osiris Foremost [of the West?] 2) Great God, Lord of Abydos (that) he may give a voice-offering (of) bread, beer, oxen, and fowl […] everything good and pure […] 3) everything sweet, he gives offerings of provisions […] a thousand of bread, he gives a thousand of 4) beer, he gives a thousand of wine […], he gives a thousand of vines, he gives a thousand of 5) incense on the altar […] a good burial in the beautiful West 6) for […] the Osiris[…] Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat born (to) Kha[…]; on the verso, an old handwritten collection label reading: 'From Harding & Sm[ith] Collection Sale Sotheby 2 Nov 1922 L.N. 234. A families[sic] stele, arched top, with the deceased worshipping a standing Horus attended by the four Children of Horus and six horizontal lines of inscription in colour. SP/10a'; mounted in a custom-made wooden frame. -
Romano-Egyptian Terracotta Figure of Eros
Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,850
Depicted nude in a dynamic pose with his legs apart and the weight of the body upon his right leg, standing in front of a two storey structure, probably an oven; his left arm raised and right arm extended in front of his torso and resting on the edge of the structure; the oven painted pink at the top and white at the bottom with an offering receptacle at floor level. -
Egyptian Indurated Limestone Frog-Shaped Cosmetic Vessel
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,750
Squat ovoid in profile, modelled with the legs folded beneath the body, with hollow socket eyes, flared rim to mouth; copper lug on either side. -
Attic Black-Figure Neck-Amphora with Gorgon and Quadriga Attributed to the Swing Painter
Sold for (Inc. bp): £41,600
With inverted echinus lip and tall neck, a ribbed handle to each side with coiling lotus buds and palmettes beneath the handles; Side a) a running winged Gorgon depicted frontally, dressed in a black and red chiton; Side b) an aristocratic warrior wearing a Chalcidian helmet and driving a quadriga, the two central horses superimposed, the other two turned outward; a frieze of lotus buds and a band Greek key motifs below, the neck decorated with red and black palmettes, and elongated lotus blossoms; restored. -
Attic Red-Figure Bell Krater with Drunken Male Revellers Attributed to the Kadmos Painter
Sold for (Inc. bp): £32,500
With a high foot, laurel wreath encircling the neck, checkerboard and meander patterns alternating around the lower body, roundels of tongue motif to the handles with palmettes and tendrils below; two red-figure scenes to the body: Side a: a high-quality depiction of a kōmos composed of five figures, including a young man holding a torch, a double flute player next to three dancers, all possibly followers of Dionysus; Side b: three draped figures conversing comprising a central female figure between two opposed male figures, one holding a staff; two old labels: one with 3061-133 on the inner rim, and 113/2 (believed to be an old Christie's lot label from the 1960s by Richard Falkiner) on the sidewall, further old accession numbers 321 and 35 under the base. -
Hellenistic Gold Ring with Galley Gemstone
Sold for (Inc. bp): £29,900
With D-section hollow-formed hoop and flared ellipsoid bezel, set with a Roman intaglio depicting a war galley under sail. -
Roman 'Published' Terracotta Oil Lamp with Fighting Gladiators
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Grey fabric, broad discus with concentric rings and chamfered shoulder, short nozzle flanked by volute scrolls; scene of two murmillo gladiators in combat, one having fallen to the ground; maker's stamp to the underside 'MAR[..]S'; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Roman Inked Wooden Tablet for a Contract Between Bassus and Neronianus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £15,600
A reused tablet with a recessed panel on one side, the last tablet of a legal document which consisted of two (diptychon) or three tablets (triptychon); ten black inked lines of New Roman cursive script, the end of a record of a transaction in formulaic legal language, probably a sales contract, between the buyer (emptor) Bassus and a person called Neronianus; traces of text (perhaps in rustic capitals) to the reverse. -
Roman Marble Head of Hercules Wearing the Nemean Lion Skin
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
Modelled with naturalistic features, gazing left, sculpted pupils and strong lids; luxuriant beard and moustache framing the face; strong forehead with tightly formed curls emerging from beneath the lion's skin hood; the hood with clear eye detailing and the mane with regularly arranged tufts; original iron pin to the front of the muzzle; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Roman Marble Head of Dionysus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £23,400
From a Greek original, wearing a crown of leaves and corymbs, hair falling in straight lines underneath the diadem; full beard composed of four rows of thick tufts with drilled holes; slightly open mouth with a fleshy lower lip; low cheekbones and hollow cheeks; large almond-shaped eyes with lachrymal duct; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
'The Anglesey' Romano-British Marble Head of a Celtic Warrior
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,150
Carved with comma-leaf detailing to the hair, a low brow over almond-shaped eyes, broad triangular nose and thick moustache obscuring the mouth; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Proto-Sumerian Terracotta Tablet with Archaic Text
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,050
Lentoid-section slab with incised grid to each face: one with three columns, impressed roundels and crescents, grid and other symbols; the other face with four columns, each cell filled with marks and symbols. -
Babylonian Cuneiform Tablet, a Clothes Receipt from Puzur-Akum to Astaqar
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Pillow-shaped clay tablet with cuneiform text to both broad faces and one edge from Garšana (iv/Šu-Sîn 8?), a receipt for various clothing, with several dedications to the deities Ninsiana, Mami, Dadmuštum and Šubula; Dadmuštum is rarely mentioned, reading: '1 tu ba-tab tuh-hu-um 3-kam us 2 1 tu ša -ga-du ba-tab tug-hu-um / 3-kam us 1 tu ta -ki-ru-um 3-kam us 4 dnin- dsi -an-na 4 tu guz-za 4-kam us 6 2 tu guz-za 4-kam us dma-mi x ? 2 tu guz-za 4-kam us / dda-ad-muš-tum R 8 2 tu niĝ -lam 4-kam us dšu-bu-la ki-la -bi 26 1/3 ma-na 10 2 tu bar-dul us-bar 4 tu sag us-bar 12 5 tu us -bar 4 ma-na 3 tu mug 14 ki !-aš-ta -gar -ta puzur -a-ku-um šu ba-ti 16 iti ki-siki- dnin-a-zu mu ma -gur -mah mu-/dim' translation: '1 (simple) garment batab tuhhum (a kind of fabric?), thrice, medium quality 1 garment šagadu (of linen) batab tuhhum thrice, medium quality 1 garment takirum, thrice, medium quality (for) Ninsiana; 4 tufted garments, in quadruple, medium quality 2 tufted garments, in quadruple, medium quality : (for) Mami 2 tufted garments, in quadruple, medium quality : (for) Dadmuštum. 2 niglam garments, in quadruple, medium quality : (for) Šubula Their weight is 26 1/3 mines. 2 bardul garments (from) the weavers 4 garments if first quality (from) the weavers 5 (simple) garments étoffes (from) the weavers : 4 mines 3 garments in coarse wool Puzur-Akum has received (these garments) from Aštaqar. In the month of Kisiki.Ninazu The year in which the big (ceremonial) boat was built'. -
Western Asiatic Ceramic Ibex Rhyton
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
With trumpet-shaped mouth, ibex-shaped finial with curved horns and legs folded beneath the body, spout to the chest; repaired. -
Celtiberian Gold Neck Torc
Sold for (Inc. bp): £14,950
A heavy penannular neck torc with carinated body and tapering coiled terminals. -
'The Dullingham' Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
With trapezoidal headplate, shallow bow, narrow triangular foot and pelta-shaped finial, pin-lugs and catch to the reverse; the headplate with (originally silvered) angled panels to the upper corners and D-shaped lug at the middle of the upper edge; rectangular corner panels interrupting a frieze of Salin's Style I face motifs, inner plain band and raised rectangular panel above the junction with the ribbed bow; lappets of Salin's Style I profile heads flanking the junction of the bow with the footplate and vertical bar running to the finial, bisecting a cruciform panel with Salin's Style I zoomorphic forms, and outer plain lobes; finial comprising a disc with four radiating ribbed arms and central boss, pelta-shaped terminal; cleaned and one lateral lobe reattached. -
'The Driffield' Anglo-Saxon Enamelled Bowl Mount
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
With a slightly domed profile and a raised circumferential border to the upper face; decorated with Celtic designs featuring elaborate curvilinear tendrils and triskele-style swirls enclosing an area of fine-line trumpet spiral designs, set around a central rectangular panel filled with millefiori-style enamel work in the form of an irregular chequerboard of blue and yellow enamel, the circular recesses retaining red enamel traces; two parallel rivets to the reverse. -
'The Ferryhill' Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Three-Dimensional Urnes Stirrup-Type Mount with Head of Odin
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
A bowed anthropomorphic mount in the form of the face of Odin, with oval right and damaged left eye, beard and hair raised to form a convex shape, rounded cheeks, a triangular nose and a beard, moustache with lateral protrusion, the hair openwork and formed of entwined linear elements, five rivet holes present. -
Medieval Decorated 'He who loves from the heart, gives with a good heart' Posy Boxwood Comb
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
Central panel decorated with a heart pierced by two arrows and inscription: 'qui de bon [COER] eyme', and verso openwork carving of blind interlaces and inscription: 'de bon [COER] donne', translating to 'He who loves from the heart, gives with a good heart'; probably given as a love token. -
Medieval Bronze Aquamanile of a Male Bust
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,050
Hollow-formed vessel formed as a male bust; discoid body with chamfered shoulder bearing bands of running zigzag detailing and three splayed feet; the head with low-relief hair and rim of bosses with linear spirals, gracile facial features with lentoid eyes and slender nose, small pouting mouth; short spout to the forehead, filler-hole to top of the head with hinged cover; handle to the rear formed as a reptile with head and forepaws placed on the hair below the hinge and joining the base above one of the feet. -
Medieval Limoges Gilt Christ Crowned on the Cross
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,150
Parcel-gilt bronze crucifix with cloisonné enamel geometric ornament; separate appliqué Corpus Christi, crowned with detailed musculature; lower legs and feet absent; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Medieval Chrismatory with Limoges Panels
Sold for (Inc. bp): £22,100
Inner wooden casket with chamfered rim and separate lid, encased within rectangular gilt-bronze panels with enamel decoration, four gilt-bronze stud feet to the underside; the lid with three nimbate figures, a female saint with palm frond and two flanking figures holding books, all reserved on a blue field with interstitial polychrome rosettes; Side A: nimbate bearded bust of Christ in Majesty with right hand in gesture of benison, left hand supporting a book, flanked by two winged nimbate angels; Side B: nimbate bust of a winged angel in a roundel; Side C: geometric repeating pattern of lozenges with floral fill; Side D: mirror image of Side B. -
Medieval Gold Heraldic Signet Ring with Goat
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
Substantial D-section hoop, expanding shoulders with reserved flowers and foliage, discoid bezel with intaglio regardant leaping goat in a pelletted ring, fronds and stars in the field, enigmatic inscription 'd[..] / de.to'. -
Medieval Bronze Corpus Christi
Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,650
With flat-topped crown, hair hanging in hanks to the shoulders, long D-shaped face with domed eyes, slender figure with ribs emphasised, knee-length loincloth falling in rippling folds; mounted on a custom-made stand.
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Archaeological Books - Pitt-Rivers - Excavations in Cranborne Chase, Vols 1-5
1887-1905 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Pitt-Rivers - Excavations in Cranborne Chase, Vol.1: Romano-British Village Woodcuts and Rushmore Park 1881-5; 2: Barrows Near Rushmore, Romano-British Village, Rotherley, Winkelbury Camp, Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Winkelbury Hill; 3: Excavations at Bokerley Dyke & Wansdyke, 1888-1891; 4: South Lodge Camp, Rushmore Park, Handley Hill Entrenchment, Stone and Bronze Age Barrows and Camp, Martin Down Camp &C.; 5: Excavations at Cranborne Chase - Index. - all hardback with original cloth covers, gilt design to covers, gold titling to spine. 15.9 kg total, 31 x 15 cm each
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Meyrick - Critical Inquiry into Antient Armour, Volumes I-III
1824 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
Samuel Rush Meyrick - A Critical Inquiry into Antient Armour, Volumes I-III - Robert Jennings, London, 1824 - hardback, marbled covers with quarter calf binding, gold titling and figural work to spine - some pages unopened, many text figures and plates, some hand-tinted; with Rugby School bookplate to inner front. 11.2 kg total, 40.5 x 30 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Babelon - Manual of Oriental Antiquities
1906 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Ernest Babelon - Manual of Oriental Antiquities - Grevel & Co., London, 1906 - hardback, cloth cover with moulded ornament, gold titling and figures - 352 pp, text figures. 589 grams, 19 x 13 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Anderson - The Roman City of Uriconium at Wroxeter
1867 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
J. Corbet Anderson - The Roman City of Uriconium at Wroxeter, Salop - Russel Smith, London, 1857 - hardback, cloth covers, with gold blocking and titling to spine - 150 pp, 12 plates, text figures. 455 grams, 20 x 14 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Ilgen - Die Westfalischen Siegel des Mittelalters
Reprint from 1897 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Thomas Ilgen - Die Westfalischen Siegel des Mittelalters - Regensberg'schen Buchhandlung, Munster, 1897 - hardback, marbled covers, half leather binding, original card front cover pasted to inner front, label to spine, marbled endpapers - 78 plates, 5 blank lines pages. 1.8 kg, 35 x 25.5 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Forgeais - Numismatique Des Corporations Parisiennes Metiers, etc.d'Apres Les Plombs Histories
1874 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Arthur Forgeais - Numismatique Des Corporations Parisiennes Metiers, etc.d'Après Les Plombs Historiés trouvés dans la Seine - Auguste Aubry, Paris, 1874 - hardback quarter-calf bind ing on marbled boards, marbled endpapers, gold titling to spine - 314 pp, text figures. 793 grams, 24.5 x 16.5 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Glob - Danske Oldsager - Danish Antiquities II, III, & IV Late Stone Age, Early and Late Bronze Age - 3 Volumes
1953 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
P.V. Glob - Danish Antiquities II, III, & IV Late Stone Age, Early and Late Bronze Age - Gyldendalske Boghandel, Copenhagen, 1952 - hardback with quarter leather binding, gold titling to spine - Vol.II, Late Stone Age, 140pp, 68 plates/Vol.III, Early Bronze Age, 65pp, 50 plates/Vol.IV Late Bronze Age, 104pp, 74 plates. 3.65 kg total, 31 x 24.5 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Calvert - Spanish Arms and Armour
1907 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Albert F. Calvert - Spanish Arms and Armour - John Lane, The Bodley Head, London, 1907 - hardback, cloth covers, gold titling to spine and cover - 142 pp, 248 plates. 726 grams, 19.6 x 13 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Sotheby's - The Avar Treasure
1981 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Sotheby's - The Avar Treasure - hardback with cloth cover, gold titling to cover and spine - 30pp including colour plates - with results list and cutting from The Times 15-12-81. 546 grams, 37 x 25 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Mortimer - Forty Years' Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire
1905 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
J.R. Mortimer - Forty Years' Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire including Romano-British discoveries and a description of the ancient entrenchments on a section of the Yorkshire Wolds - A.Brown & Sons, Hull, 1905 - quarter leather binding with gold block titling to spine, 440 pp, fold-out table, text figures, 125 plates. 3.39 kg, 30.5 x 22.5 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - Pitt-Rivers - On the Development of Primitive Locks and Keys
1883 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Lieutenant-General Pitt-Rivers - On the Development of Primitive Locks and Keys - Chatto & Windus, London, 1883 - hardback, clothbound with gold blocking to both covers and spine - 31 pp, 10 plates; front board partly detached. 701 grams, 31 x 23.5 cm
Property of a Kent, UK, collector. -
Archaeological Books - J. Starkie Gardner - Victoria and Albert & South Kensington Museums Art Handbooks - 14 Volumes
1876-1901 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Series of Art Handbooks comprising: The Industrial Arts of Spain (Riaño); Industrial Arts - Historical Sketches (various); Scandinavian Arts (Hildebrand); Danish Arts I & II (Worsaae) [2 vols]; Russian Art (Maskell); Persian Art (Murdoch Smith); Precious Stones (Church); English Earthenware (Church); Bronzes (Drury & Fortnum); Ironwork 1 & II (Starkie Gardner) [3 vols]; Gold & Silver (Hungerford Pollen) - all hardback with cloth covers, gold titling to spine and cover, black blocking. 4 kg total, 20 x 13.5 cm each
Property of a Kent, UK, collector.